Manky Monkey
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« Reply #585 on: August 13, 2009, 04:58:31 PM » |
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Another instalment in the continuing saga today.
Our day off, so it was back to JC's this morning to check on the progress.
Finally, it's starting to look like a car again. Well, the basic shape's recognisable anyway. Andy, the guy who's doing the work, has fitted the new flitch panels, (inner front wings), bolted on the front fenders & hung the doors. He's borrowed the bonnet from fellow Mopar Muscle Association member Mark's Charger, being rebuilt on the other side of the workshop, to check the panel fit. He's having to rebuild lots of the awkward little corners between panels by hand, which is obviously time consuming, (which means expensive). A whole afternoon went into just fabricating the area between the top door hinge & bottom corner of the windscreen on the driver's side. Sections which originally took seconds to press out in the factory now have to be re-made from half a dozen hand cut flat pieces welded together. Overall, John & Andy seem happy with everything so we'll let them get on with it while we order the last body panels from New Jersey.
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #586 on: August 13, 2009, 05:07:46 PM » |
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Although the doors looked perfect to us when we bought them, shotblasting has revealed a series of small rust holes along the back edge of the driver's one, where its shuts against the door pillar, that'll need repairing. The passenger one's had dents pulled out of it, which has left bolt holes from the puller which need welding up. We knew when we bought them that one door's a 1969 model & the other's a '68 -the hole for the locking button on the inside is in a different place but the outside skins are identical. Just means we need to re-drill one of them. Fitting the doors has also shown that the hinges are worn so that the door sags. Our usual guys, Jack's Auto Parts, NJ, stock a hinge pin kit for $20, so we've added it to the shopping list.
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« Last Edit: August 13, 2009, 10:23:52 PM by Manky Monkey »
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #587 on: August 13, 2009, 05:14:40 PM » |
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We'd been there for about half an hour before we realised the temporary interior bracing bars had been removed. Andy's begun work on fitting the new driver's side rocker panel, (sill), & the bodyshell's starting to become a lot more rigid now.
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #588 on: August 13, 2009, 05:17:52 PM » |
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No air-con' in our car, (that's what windows are for), so the air conditioner pump holes in the replacement bulkhead will all be plated over.
The 2 square holes in the bonnet are for indicator warning lights, visible from the driving position. Imagine how strong the bonnet hinges have to be to hold up all that sheet steel. Taz bought a replacement pair from one of her fellow Mopar Muscle Association members.
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« Last Edit: September 28, 2009, 11:57:53 PM by Manky Monkey »
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On the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City.
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #589 on: August 13, 2009, 05:21:41 PM » |
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The big Cadillac, just visible in front of our car, originally belonged to the Mexican President & arrived at the workshops painted in gold metalflake. It's the saloon version of the ambulance used in the Ghost Busters films. The guy who owns it has another four of them at home.
In the second pic you can see some of the many repair patches added at some point in the car's past, either side of the rear window. The new rear quarter panels we have will replace all these.
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« Last Edit: August 13, 2009, 05:29:14 PM by Manky Monkey »
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tbone
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« Reply #590 on: August 13, 2009, 05:24:02 PM » |
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"our car"  How long are those wings (spose i should say fenders really)? |
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NO I WON`T. aye ok then, i will
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #591 on: August 13, 2009, 05:28:26 PM » |
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"Our" car as in the one we're both paying for, but it's Taz's name on the logbook so her final say on everything -yes, we're going for the new bonnet she wanted. I've got my own project car to play with.  The front fenders are almost 7 feet long. Total car length is around 17 feet & 7 feet wide.
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« Last Edit: August 13, 2009, 05:30:13 PM by Manky Monkey »
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #592 on: August 13, 2009, 05:37:06 PM » |
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The new inner wings, ("flitch panels"). One of the first indicators we had that something was defnitely bent on the car was the fact that one flitch panel was an inch longer than the other.
The "Hockey Stick" mouldings at the back of the rear quarters are a common weak spot. They're made of a cheap alloy & often crack, as ours have, when bolted in place. John didn't think they were available but Taz has found reproductions for sale in Belgium, (from the guys who sold us the bulkhead). New panels are becoming available for Mopars all the time. There's another Charger in the workshops that arrived 6 months before ours. Panels that we've bought off the shelf couldn't be bought for that one & had to be fabricated, which bumps the repair costs up considerably. So the more we can buy in, the less we'll have to pay out in workshop time.
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« Last Edit: August 13, 2009, 08:34:44 PM by tazet »
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #593 on: August 13, 2009, 05:42:38 PM » |
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The Andy Brothers. Clever Andy, the fabricator, & Stoopid Andy, the Monkey.
The slotted top panel of the bulkhead, in front of the windscreen, has become available as a repair section since we began work on this. It was the 2 ends that hold the door hinges that were most rotten on ours though. No doubt they'll be reproduced soon too.
Tazzicle checks the progress.
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tazet
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« Reply #594 on: August 13, 2009, 08:36:19 PM » |
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More like writing the shopping list and the things we have to dig out of the garage |
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texon
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« Reply #595 on: August 15, 2009, 01:05:34 AM » |
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from when you first got it BIG BIG difference looking goooooood  |
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tazet
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« Reply #596 on: August 15, 2009, 06:23:29 AM » |
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Thanks Texon. Good to still see you floating about |
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Manky Monkey
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« Reply #598 on: August 16, 2009, 09:49:20 AM » |
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Don't think 5th Gear's Vicki Butler Henderson really "got" the whole classic American scene. Try Richard Hammond's Top Gear version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnLktvQlg3g
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XJ750(UK)
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« Reply #599 on: August 16, 2009, 08:27:28 PM » |
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she might've been able to do a quicker lap time, if she'd stopped yakking |
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